DeepBlueSea
New member
First, I'll admit I'm an idiot...
I really didn't do any research on anemones.
I bought an anemone on instinct and appearance alone. (First one ever, even though I knew I shouldn't)
I put an anemone in a "1 month" old aquarium.
I believed the LFS who sold me a "BTA".
On the plus side I do have 7 or so years of successful reef keeping experience and believe I already have a "stable" system when it comes to lighting, temperature, salinity and current water parameters and have the skills to maintain the system in this manner. It's just the sand bed that's still building itself for I actually started the aquarium 5 months ago prepping, curing & seeding the rock in garbage cans.
The system is still going through the normal slight algae blooms (green film and slight diatoms on the sand bed nothing out of control), Coraline is already starting to cover all the rocks/PVC returns overflows etc. only a month after adding light to the mix.
Since adding this anemone to the aquarium a week or so ago... It's eating freeze dried krill without issue, it's even taken half a cube of gel frozen fish food (i.e. Prime Reef or something like that) I'll eventually pick up some silversides. I've been feeding it every other day after . It continues to wander around the aquarium always gearing towards the highest flow area. I have been changing the flow to try to convince it to move to an area which is in good viewing perspective. Right now it's stuck on the side of the aquarium with it's tentacles stuck right into the mix of the multi-holed PVC spray return line.
I'm running staggered 4x24wT5's w/ individual SLR reflectors overdirven by an ICECAP 660 ballast, 3" off the water surface. It has chosen a relatively low light area, but high water flow, on the end of the tank with only end lighting from 2 - T5 bulbs)
When I first put it in the aquarium and doing research I can say it was a little stressed out... Mouth was gaping slightly and possibly bleached but not completely. The next morning, after moving it, I witnessed some expulsion of zooanthallae which obviously wasn't very good... Since then I have left it alone allowing it to go where it wants to go and the feeding began. The mouth is now closed, tight and circular and the base of the tentacles seem to be "tanning" up adjusting to the lighting.
I'll mention that when the lights are out it expands, it's large like 5-6+" with the base being 4+" thick. The tentacles are not that long, and there are no "bubbles". The tentacle tips are a greenish hue, which matches it's tentacleless surrounding mouth. It's body is hot pink/purple. It seems to inflate and deflate on it's own schedule, however, when the lighting turns on it does shrink a little. I've noticed over this short period of time that it's not shrinking as much as it was on day 1 but it definitely retreats a little in the light.
So, I've been studying anemones non-stop for over a week and I'm not so sure I picked up a BTA. I've scoured REEFCENTRAL for photos of BTA's and none of them look like what I purchase. Of course I'm finding photos that resembles what I purchased to be the "most" difficult to care for h. magnifica.
When researching h.magnifica identification I've been able to match this description "Tentacles and oral disc of the same color, with a base/pedicle also colored... Typically purplish".
I've also say that this anem matches this description... "Immediately (20â€"œ30 mm) around the mouth the oral disk may be yellow, brown or green, free of tentacles and slightly convex."
However, i've also seen it mentioned that there would be some spots or something running up and down the body, which this anemone doesn't seem to have. However, I have also found description of " prominent verrucae (warty textured striations) and tentacles with distinctive longish, blunt ends" which my anemone does seem to match... when it's slightly retreating from light...
Here is the 1st photo I took of it in the LFS... Two days before bringing it home...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4ptazjs
I'll see if I can get another photo of it tonight but the angles it's attached to makes photos of the mouth difficult...
Thanks, and please don't turn this into a bashing thread... I know of my mistakes and believe I have the knowledge and the funds to properly maintain if it is indeed an H.magnifica...
In the background you can hear it... so slightly...
"Honey, I need to order a custom tank. That anemone that I got is going to be a monster and it has special needs."
I really didn't do any research on anemones.
I bought an anemone on instinct and appearance alone. (First one ever, even though I knew I shouldn't)
I put an anemone in a "1 month" old aquarium.
I believed the LFS who sold me a "BTA".
On the plus side I do have 7 or so years of successful reef keeping experience and believe I already have a "stable" system when it comes to lighting, temperature, salinity and current water parameters and have the skills to maintain the system in this manner. It's just the sand bed that's still building itself for I actually started the aquarium 5 months ago prepping, curing & seeding the rock in garbage cans.
The system is still going through the normal slight algae blooms (green film and slight diatoms on the sand bed nothing out of control), Coraline is already starting to cover all the rocks/PVC returns overflows etc. only a month after adding light to the mix.
Since adding this anemone to the aquarium a week or so ago... It's eating freeze dried krill without issue, it's even taken half a cube of gel frozen fish food (i.e. Prime Reef or something like that) I'll eventually pick up some silversides. I've been feeding it every other day after . It continues to wander around the aquarium always gearing towards the highest flow area. I have been changing the flow to try to convince it to move to an area which is in good viewing perspective. Right now it's stuck on the side of the aquarium with it's tentacles stuck right into the mix of the multi-holed PVC spray return line.
I'm running staggered 4x24wT5's w/ individual SLR reflectors overdirven by an ICECAP 660 ballast, 3" off the water surface. It has chosen a relatively low light area, but high water flow, on the end of the tank with only end lighting from 2 - T5 bulbs)
When I first put it in the aquarium and doing research I can say it was a little stressed out... Mouth was gaping slightly and possibly bleached but not completely. The next morning, after moving it, I witnessed some expulsion of zooanthallae which obviously wasn't very good... Since then I have left it alone allowing it to go where it wants to go and the feeding began. The mouth is now closed, tight and circular and the base of the tentacles seem to be "tanning" up adjusting to the lighting.
I'll mention that when the lights are out it expands, it's large like 5-6+" with the base being 4+" thick. The tentacles are not that long, and there are no "bubbles". The tentacle tips are a greenish hue, which matches it's tentacleless surrounding mouth. It's body is hot pink/purple. It seems to inflate and deflate on it's own schedule, however, when the lighting turns on it does shrink a little. I've noticed over this short period of time that it's not shrinking as much as it was on day 1 but it definitely retreats a little in the light.
So, I've been studying anemones non-stop for over a week and I'm not so sure I picked up a BTA. I've scoured REEFCENTRAL for photos of BTA's and none of them look like what I purchase. Of course I'm finding photos that resembles what I purchased to be the "most" difficult to care for h. magnifica.
When researching h.magnifica identification I've been able to match this description "Tentacles and oral disc of the same color, with a base/pedicle also colored... Typically purplish".
I've also say that this anem matches this description... "Immediately (20â€"œ30 mm) around the mouth the oral disk may be yellow, brown or green, free of tentacles and slightly convex."
However, i've also seen it mentioned that there would be some spots or something running up and down the body, which this anemone doesn't seem to have. However, I have also found description of " prominent verrucae (warty textured striations) and tentacles with distinctive longish, blunt ends" which my anemone does seem to match... when it's slightly retreating from light...
Here is the 1st photo I took of it in the LFS... Two days before bringing it home...
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=4ptazjs
I'll see if I can get another photo of it tonight but the angles it's attached to makes photos of the mouth difficult...
Thanks, and please don't turn this into a bashing thread... I know of my mistakes and believe I have the knowledge and the funds to properly maintain if it is indeed an H.magnifica...
In the background you can hear it... so slightly...
"Honey, I need to order a custom tank. That anemone that I got is going to be a monster and it has special needs."
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